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Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the under-fire leader of Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, said she would step down if she did not have the backing of the party, in a defiant conference speech on Friday. 

"If you are of the opinion that the Germany I want is not the one you want... then we should end it. Here, now and today," Kramp-Karrenbauer told delegates, responding to criticism of her leadership.